Bottle capping attachment



Nov. 7, 1933- J. J. GAYNOR 1,933,551

BOTTLE CAPPING ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //7ve/22"or-, John (1 Ga rror 42 forneys. I

Patented Nov. 7, 1933 BOTTLE CAPPING ATTACHMENT John J. Gaynor, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Horix Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 5,

15 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of bottling machine attachments for capping bottles with crown caps.

An important object of the invention resides in the provision of an attachment that'may be applied to a machine whereby the bottles will be capped within a very short interval of time following the filling operation. Other important objects reside in the provision of means for causing the cap to grip around the mouth of the bot- .tle with a spring-like engagement due to a dis-.

tortion of the cap following the initial squeezing operation on the cap; in the provision of means for feeding thecaps into the throat of the attachment and in preventing damage to caps adjacent the cap being operated upon; in the provision of means for operating the capping head by a m chanism driven from the wheel which causes bottles to be fed into the filling machine; and 20 in the provision of means for permitting the bottle to remain stationary while being capped and to move the bottle on from under the capping head after being capped.

These and other objects such as the particular novel combination of the various elements perrnitting the extreme simplicity and reliability of the structure will become apparent in the following description of the invention as illustrated in one particular form in the accompanying draw- 30 ings, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation in a more or less diagrammatic form showing a filling machine to which my invention is applied;

Fig. 2, a transverse horizontal section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a detail in fragmentary front elevation of the capping mechanism;

Fig. 4, a longitudinal vertical section on the line 4.4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a detail in top plan View;

Fig. 6, a detail in horizontal section on the line 6-6 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7, a detail in vertical section of end of the cap pusher foot; and

Fig. 8, a detail in side elevation of the bottle pusher pawl.

Referring to the drawings, in which like charactors of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, I show a bottle filling machine 10 or the customary type well known to those versed in the art, the machine being rotated continuously and not intermittently. Between the standards 11 and 12 and supported thereby I position the bar 13 horizontally. This bar 13 is bored through vertically to receive a collar 14 the lower 1931. Serial No. 513,473 (Cl; 226-84) PATENT oFFI Ea with a sliding fit therein. This collar '14 has an annular flange projecting laterally from its upper edge to have a width to permit a screw, 15 to be passed selectively through anumber of holes 15' therethrough to screw-threadedly engage in the bar 13.

A tube 16 is provided to pass slidably through the collar 14 and carries a key 17 to engage within a slot formed in the collar so that the tube 16 may not rotate within the collar but may slide vertically therethrough. The lower end of the tube 16 screw-threadedly engages the head casting 18 which has a hollow bore extending vertically therethrough as a continuation of the bore of the tube. The lower end of thisvertical bore through the casting 18 is reduced slightly in diameter and receives therethrough screwthreadedly a sleeve 19 which has an appreciable length. An operating rod 20 passes through the sleeve 19 vertically with a sliding fit and extends to within the tube 16 where a compression spring 21 is wrapped around the rod to bear by its lower end against the upper end of the sleeve 19 and by its upperv end against the under side of the adjusting nut 22 which is secured against rotation by the lock nut 28. A collar 24 is slipped over the rod 20 and adjustably secured thereto by the screw 25 to limit the upward travel of the rod 20 through the sleeve 19 by striking the-lower end of the sleeve. A spring 26 is secured by its lower end to this collar 24 and has its upper end engaged over the hook 2'7 which is adjustably secured through the bar 13.

The casting 18 carries a cylinder 28 in a vertical position. Near the lower end of this cylinder is a reduced bore through which a plunger 30 is guided, the plunger having a center lower than its edges, here shown as convex in form. An annular ring 31 about the upper end of the plunger 30 contacts the top side of the shoulder-29 at the top of the reduced bore andlimits the downward travel of the plunger; 30. A stem 32 extends upwardly from the plunger 30 to carry a compression spring 33 therearound and to engage by its upper end within the central vertical bore34. provided in the collar 35 which screw-threadedly engages within the upper end of the cylinder 28. A cap screw 36 screwthreadedly enters the bore 34 from theupper end and is secured against rotary movement .by the locknut 3'7.

The lower end of the cylinder 28 is :bored out to receive with a sliding'fit therein the. die. block 38 which is retained by the screw 39. This die upper end of which is counterbored to receive the die therein and has a slot entering from the side through which caps 41 may enter, one after another to a position one cap at a time directly under the plunger 30, and the under side of the block 38 is bored conically in the usual manner to guide the mouth of a bottle to within the block., I

The rod 20 passes slidably through the table 69 centrally through the cylinder 82 secured thereunder and carries the piston 83 which is adapted to enter and travel within the cylinder 82 to serve as a buffer means.

A red 42 is supported vertically and slidably through the arms 43 and 44which project laterally from the'cylinder 28. A collar 45 is adjustably secured on the rod 42 above the arm 43 'bolt head and by its lower end against the rod end. The head end of the bolt 47 normally bears against the-bar 13 to compress the spring 46.

Between a pair of cars 48 and 49 projecting from the side of the cylinder below the arm 43 and spaced therearound somewhat is pivotally supported by its upper end the cap feed lever 50. An arm 51 extends substantially at right angles to and from the lever at its upper end to receive in a slot 52 therein the pin 53 which is carried on the outer end of thearm 54 that is fixed on the vertically reciprocable rod 42. A cap screw 84 is passed through a slot 85 in the cylinder 28 screw-threadedly engaged in the ring 31. A second arm 86 is fixed on the rod 42 below'the arm 51 and is brought around between t the lever 50 and the cylinder 28 to be above and in the path of the head of the screw 84.

A cap hopper 55 of the usual and well known construction is mounted near the top of the machine 10 and has a flexible chute 56 extending outwardly and around down to join on the chute end 56 as a means of permitting caps to slide from the hopper one after another down into the end 56.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the rod 20 extends downwardly from the sleeve 19 for an appreciable distance through the table 69 and has its lower end connected to the lever 57 which is secured to the rocker shaft 58. This shaft 58 extends horizontally toward the star wheel 59 which constitutes the driving mechanism of the machine 10 for placing empty bottles on th stirrups 60. The wheel 59 is given an intermittent rotary motion in the usual manner by having its arms 61 engaged by the stirrup posts 62 as the posts are revolved therepast. The arms 61 are provided with rollers 63 and a lever 64 is fixed to the shaft 58 to be normally in the path of these rollers 63.

Each stirrup carries a V-shaped guide 65 which centers each bottle on its stirrup in respect to the filling nozzles 66 thereabove. A bottle deflecting arm '67 is mounted to extend angularly across the top sides of thestirrups 60 and under the guide 65 as a means by which, in cooperation with the guide 65, filled bottles'are removed successively from the oncoming stirrups 60. g

In operating the devicejthe filling machine 10 functions in the usual manner and filled bottles 68 engage in succession the arm 67 which causes each bottle to be deflected on onto the stationary table 69 as the guide 65 pushes the bottle along the arm. As soon as the guide 65 is carried past the arm 67, the filled bottle comesto rest on the table and it is in this position that the filled bottle is capped. The lever 64 is so positioned on the shaft 58 that as soon as the bottle 68 has come to rest on the table 69, a roller 63 strikes the lever 64 and moves on thereacross by reason of the stirrup post 62 striking and carrying around an arm 61 of the wheel 59. The rocking of the lever 64 causes a corresponding movement of the lever 57 which in turn pulls the rod 20 downwardly. The compression spring 21 is of sufficient strengthto carry the entire capping head 18 downwardly without appreciable compression. Downward movement of the head 18 brings the die block 38 directly over the mouth of the bottle on the table 69 to carry the cap 41 against the under side of the plunger 30. The head 18 continues to travel downwardly through the pull of the lever 57 to bring the die 40 down around the cap 41 and to force the plunger 30 upwardly against the pressure of the spring 33, the plunger 30 in this action serving to retain the cap 41 over the mouth of the bottle while the edges of the cap are being crimped by action of the die 40. The downward movementof the head 18 continues with the plunger 30 bearing against the cap 41 until the upper end of the stem 32 strikes the lower end of the screw 36 and causes the rounded end of the plunger 30 to dent the top of the cap, at which point the roller 63 has passed on over and released the lever '64 to allow the,

spring 26 to carry the rod 20 and the head 18 upwardly and back to its normal position to lift the die block. 38 above the bottle. The jerk of the spring 26 upon release of the lever 64 is cushioned by the piston 83 on the rod trapping air in the upper end of the cylinder 82.

The cap 41 having been initially crimped around the bottle mouth and then struck a light blow on its. top side as above indicated, after being released from the die 40, has a tendency to engage about the bottle by its edges more tightly by reason of the top of the cap tending to return to its original shape before being dented by'the plunger 30. When the rod 20 starts to travel downwardly by the pull of the lever 57, the rod 42 remains stationary in respect to cylinder 28 for an interval of time due to the fact that the spring 46 being compressed between the rod and the bolt 4'7 expands and retains the collar 45 against the arm 43.

As the head 18 is being lowered by the rod 20 and the crown 41 is carried against the plunger 30, the plunger 30 then starts to travel upwardly relative to the head 18, and in doing so, carries the screw 84 against the arm 86 immediately thereabove to lift the rod 42. The rod 42 is thereby carried upwardly with the plunger 30, and accordingly, the pin 53 lifts the arm 51 to, in turn, swing the lever 50 outwardly by its lower end away from the die block 38. The lower end of the lever 50 carries a foot 87 which is rockably attached by one end thereto and passes through a slot 88 in the top side of the chute end 56'. This foot, Figs.'6 and '7, has a spring 89 between it and the lower end or" the lever 50 normally rocking the other end of the foot downwardly into, the path of the crowns or caps 41. The free end of the foot is turned downwardly, is preferably U-shaped to conform to the outer circumference of the caps, and is of a length that, when the lever 50 is at its limit of travel toward the cylinder28, the free end extends to within the'die block 38 a distance to push a cap 41 into position concentric of the throat of the tion.

block, as indicated in'Fig. 4, ready to be carried against a bottle. V

Now as the lever 50 is swung outwardly as above described, the foot 87 is pulled to drag back over the first appearing cap e1 then in the chute end 56 a distance sufiicient to have the downturned end drop back of that cap. To prevent the foot 87 as it drags back over the cap 41 from pushing it back up the chute56, the floor of the chute end 5-6 is formed, here shown as by punching it downwardly, to have a shoulder or ledge 90 formed thereacross to be engaged by the cap, the next above cap 41" resting against-the cap 41 and sliding by the pull of gravity to the position 41 upon removal of the cap 41' therefrom. Upon the upward return travel of the head 18 through the pull of the spring 26, the plunger 30 is returned downwardly by the spring 33 to remove the screw 84 from under the arm 86, and then when the bolt 47 initially strikes the bar 13 again, the rod 42 is pushed downwardly in relation to the travel of the cylinder 23 to cause the pin 53 to carry the cap 41' into the die block 2- to be ready for the succeeding capping opera- Referring to Fig. 6, the cap ll is held back from the die block 38 and adjacent the ledge 98 by the leaf sprin s 91 and 92 bent around the project into the chute end 5-3 whereby the foot 87 will have to forcibly carry the cap 41 between the springs to place the cap within the block 38, the springs .yieldingly engaging the side or" the upper or dome part of the cap; The cap 41 when retained by the springs 91 and 92is positioned back out of the way of the cap sland the plunger 39 so that the capping operation will not be interfered with and the cap 41 not damaged by possible contact with the cap 41,.

Should there be a variation in the size of the bottles to be capped, the capping mechanism be rotated to bring the die 38 to the proper position over the table 69 by withdrawing the screw 15 in the collar 14 and revolving the mechanism about the axis of the tube 16 so as to swing the head or casting 18' therearound.

A mechanism is provided to move the capped bottles from ed the table 69 onto a conveyor 70.

' This mechanism, Figs. 1 and 2, comprises a flexible arm 71 which is carried on the lower end of the vertical post 72 to have the outer end of the arm in the path of the stirrup supporting posts 62, whereby the arm 71 will be struck successively by the posts and rocked horizontally through an appreciable arc of travel to cause a corresponding rotation of the post 72. This post 72 veric'ally and rotatably passes upwardly through the table 69 and carries a lever 73 fixed on its upper end. A link 74 pivotally connects the outer end of this arm 73 and the outer end of a rocker arm 75. The other end of this arm 75 beyond the pivot point 78 carries a pawl 77 which normally extends to within the path of the filled bottles as they come off the stirrup 60. As a bottle 68 moves.

onto the table 69 to the capping position, the pawl 77 rocked to permit the bottle to pass on to the capping position, at which point the pawl is returned to its normal position by a spring 78, Fig. 8.

A spring 79 normally retains the rocker arm 75 in the position indicated. The arm 71 is then in a position to be struck by a stirrup post 62 immediately the capping operation is completed so that as the arm 71 is moved, the rocker arm 75 is in turn moved to cause the pawl 77 to strike the capped bottle and move it on toward the conveyor 70. The bottle while being thus moved, is

guided by the'rails 8O and 81 which curve around to the conveyor 70. As a subsequent bottle is carried around by the pawl 77, the capped bottles 58 previously so moved are pushed consecutively by that subsequent bottle onto the conveyor 70.

The capping head'lS may be raised or lowered to accommodate the particular height of bottles being capped by running the sleeve 19 in or out of the head casting 13. It will be noted that regardless of how the head 18 is shifted relatively along t -e sleeve 19 the adjustment on the spring 21 is not changed. The spring 21 serves as a cushion to prevent the breakage of bottles should it occur that the mouth of a bottle does not fit in the t roat of the die block 38 butv strike cc centric thereof, in which event the continued downward travel of the rod 20 will compress the spring 21 and leavethe die block 38 stationary against the bottle.

1. In combination with a continuously rotatable bottle filling machine having bottle supporting stirrups, a stationary table, a deflector arm for deflecting filled bottles from the stirrups onto the table, a bottle capping mechanism above said table, means operable in timed sequence by movement of said machine for actuating said mechanism to cap a bottle while stationary on saidtable, an arm located and movable above the table adapted to move bottles along the table away from said mechanism, and means associated with said stirrups for intermittently actuating said arm.

2. In a bottle filling machine having a plurality of bottle supporting stirrups, posts carrying the stirrups, and a bottleffeed star wheel having arms engaged consecutively by said posts, a bottle capping head, a rod extending below said head, and rocker means interposed between said rod and said starwheei. intermittently rocked by the arms of said wheel to lower said rod.

3.-In a bottle filling machine, a plurality of bottle supporting stirrups supporting the bottles while they are being filled and arranged to be revolvedin a' fixed horizontal and circular line of travel, posts carrying the stirrups, a star wheel having arms to engage the posts, a V-shaped bottle guide on each stirrup, a stationary table, and a defiectcrarm fixed in relation to the table and projecting angular-1y across the path of the stirrups and under guides,

the open side'of said guides being toward said table, said arm transferringthe filled bottles to the table and means for capping the bottles while on the table.

4. In a bottle filling machine having a plurality of bottle supporting stirrups, posts carrying the stirrups, and a bottle feed star wheel having arms en aged consecutively by said posts, a bottle capping head, a rod extending below said. head, and rocker means interposed between said rod and said star wheel intermittently rocked by the arms of said wheel to lower said rod, bottle guides on the table, and a rocker arm mecha projecting into the path of the said posts, and a link interconnecting said two rocker arms, said. projecting end being positioned to be engaged by consecutive stirrup posts to cause said pawl to engage and move bottles from under said capping mechanism in timed relation with the movement of said posts.

6. For a bottle filling machine, a capping mechanism embodying a member fixed relative to the machine, a sleeve, an operating rod guided vertically through the sleeve in relation to said member, a capping head secured to the sleeve, and means for circumferentially adjusting said head about said rod and retaining it in selective positions for varying sized bottles.

7. In a bottle capping mechanism, a sleeve, a capping head adjustably carried by the sleeve, an operating rod slidably passed through the sleeve, and means carried by the rod to engage said sleeve comprising a collar below the sleeve, a nut above the sleeve and a spring between. the nut and sleeve, and a spring attached to the colla-r normally tending to lift both head and sleeve.

8. For a bottle filling machine, a capping mechanism embodying'a member fixed relative to the machine, a sleeve, an operating rod guided vertically through the sleeve in relation to said memher, a capping head screwed to the sleeve, and means for circumferentially adjusting said sleeve and head about said rod and retaining them in selective positions for varying sized bottles, and a collar on the rod to limit the upward travel of the rod through the sleeve.

9. For a bottle filling machine, a bottle capping mechanism embodying a member fixed to the machine, an operating rod vertically guided in relation to the member, a capping head carried by the rod and spring means permitting said rod to travel downwardly in relation to the head following a predetermined resistance against travel of the head, a cylinder secured to the head and receiving the rod therein, a collar carried by the fixed member and slidably receiving said cylinder therethrough, means for securing said collar to said fixed member in selective circumferential positions, and means preventing rotation of the cylinder in the collar.

10. In a bottle capping mechanism, a sleeve, 2. capping head adjustably carried by the sleeve, an operating rod slidably passed through the sleeve, and means carried by the rod to engage said sleeve comprising a collar below the sleeve, a nut above the sleeve and a spring between the collar and sleeve, a member fixed relative to the machine, and a spring interconnecting said collar and said member normally holding said rod in an upper position. a

11; In a bottle capping mechanism, a cylinder, a cap crimping die in the lower end of the cylinder, a cap chute discharging under said die, a plunger normally entered within said die, means operated from the plunger for feeding caps from the chute to under the die, a stem extending upwardly within the cylinder from the plunger, a collar carried in the upperend of the cylinder, 2. spring around said stem bearing between said collar and said plunger, said collar having a central bore slidably receiving the end of said stem, and a stop adjustably carried in said bore against which said stem may strike upon a predetermined upward travel of the plunger in reference to said die. 7

12. In combination with a continuously rotatable bottle filling machine'having bottle supports, a stationary table, a deflector arm for deflecting filled bottles from the supports onto the table, a bottle capping mechanism above the table, means operable in timed sequence by movement of said machine for actuating said mechanism to cap a bottle while stationary on said table, bottle guide rails above the table, a rocker arm located above and pivotally supported from the table and swinging horizontally thereabove to move bottles across the table between the guide rails and means synchronized with the bottle supports for intermittently actuating said arm.

13. In a bottle capping machine, a cylinder, a cap crimping die in the lower end of the cylinder, a cap chute discharging to under the die, a formation in the chute to aid in arresting a cap, a plunger normally entering within the die and means operated from the plunger to feed the arrested cap from the chute to under the die.

14. In a bottle capping machine, a cylinder, a cap crimping die in the lower end of the cylinder, a cap chute dischargingto under the die, springs at the end of the chute to aid in arresting a cap, a plunger normally entering within the die and means operated from the plunger to feed the arrested caps from the chute to under the die. 15. In a bottle capping machine, a cylinder,

a cap crimping die in the lower end of the cylinder, a cap chute discharging to under the die, means in the chute to arrest the caps, a lever, a

foot on the end of the lever to engage a cap in the chute and move it under the die by a swing of the lever, a plunger, and means operated from the plunger to swing the lever.

JOHN J. GAYNOR. 

